


experience has made me rich

by earnmysong



Series: let me hold your crown, babe [3]
Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: F/M, FAMILYYYYYY, Future Fic, Gen, Kid Fic, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24771811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earnmysong/pseuds/earnmysong
Summary: Alexis’ fingers flit over Lennox’s blossom-dusted foot, pretty much pleading ‘Okay, like, what exactly am I doing with you?’ at the perfectly-knotted laces. When the colors run into each other like some super trippy Banksy commentary on micro-fashion, she figures she should shut down the staring contest. Instead, she checks with her first-grader, shifts her shoulders in a wavy side-to-side deal, implores Len to connect some dots, any dots, somewhere.Len doesn’t disappoint. “People who wear these sneakers, Mommy, we’re supposed to skateboard. Didn’t anybody tell you?”Otherwise known as: Alexis embarks on a new, slightly questionable, journey. [Post-Series]
Relationships: Alexis Rose & David Rose, Theodore "Ted" Mullens/Alexis Rose
Series: let me hold your crown, babe [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1760443
Comments: 12
Kudos: 25





	experience has made me rich

**Author's Note:**

> If I may, an equation that demonstrates how this story came to be:
> 
> David owns Vans + Alexis adores shoes + Vans has floral patterns, some of which feature roses + Vans are actually designed for skateboarding = My brain has a lightbulb moment and runs with it!
> 
> Many thanks, as is almost always the case, to @megalong/@irishmizzy for her magnificent, high-quality assistance.
> 
>  _Schitt's Creek_ belongs to the brilliant Family Levy et al., all other media/material referenced belongs to its respective owners, and the title's borrowed from Madonna's 'Material Girl'.

\----

“I don’t skate through life, David; I walk through life – in really nice shoes.” – Alexis Rose, ‘Driving Test’

*…folks would kill to fill your shoes…* - ‘Take Me Or Leave Me’, RENT

\----

Alexis’ fingers flit over Lennox’s blossom-dusted foot, pretty much pleading ‘Okay, like, what exactly am I doing with you?’ at the perfectly-knotted laces. When the colors run into each other like some super trippy Banksy commentary on micro-fashion, she figures she should shut down the staring contest. Instead, she checks with her first-grader, shifts her shoulders in a wavy side-to-side deal, implores Len to connect some dots, any dots, somewhere. 

Len doesn’t disappoint. “People who wear these sneakers, Mommy, we’re supposed to skateboard. Didn’t anybody tell you?”

{So. Alexis might have been standing in the bathroom one memorable morning, deep-diving into the Vans website on her phone and pretending to debate between a gift card and an actual, you know, gift for David’s birthday. Honestly, she’d never once dreamed of ignoring her brother’s express directive that items not carefully self-curated be submitted for prior approval so that he could properly assess their aesthetic compatibility with his existing collection; she certainly hadn’t planned to have that be day one. But panic attacks - even the mini variety managed in semi-seclusion – had always been more for other people and, when she’d found herself spiraling, there’d sort of been a frantic flail for a distraction.

As aimlessly composed as she’d tried to keep her scroll, her taps kept landing the teeniest bit off-center, every misplaced jab reminding her how thoroughly she was failing at airy nonchalance and how much of this waiting game she had left. After a truly heinous misfire that’d caught empty space without even a hint of glass or metal, her attention had snagged on the smallest shoes she’d ever seen - weirdly apropos considering why she’d barricaded herself in here anyway, {very much not} casually averting her gaze from the vanity.

The whole situation had veered into seriously strange, third-eyeish territory, though, when the print on these particular infant statement pieces had registered as a sprinkling of tiny pink roses, her timer had buzzed itself finished right at that second, and she’d peeked hesitantly to discover a plus sign waiting for her.

She’d ended up making the impulse-buy - signs from the universe arriving in the form of footwear were way too on-brand for her to ignore, no matter how this saga shook out - and destroying her bottom lip as she’d called Ted. “Babe, hi! You know that idea we’ve been workshopping recently? Yeah, so. Um. Branching out our family tree? Might become a reality sooner than you’d be-leaf?” 

Suddenly dizzy, she’d realized that she’d just let that little newsflash loose in a continuous rush. She’d sunk to the floor - her legs pretzeled, her phone squished against her ear with a bit of help from her shoulder - and tried really hard to avoid the fact that she could taste her Kind bar – and also maybe her heart? Could that happen? 

“Holy - That’s tree-rific, Lex!” Ted had gushed without missing a beat.}

“Mmmkay, I think someone might have mentioned that.” Alexis straightens out of her crouch, letting Len’s sneaker drop lazily to the sidewalk. “But, honestly? I’ve never been entirely focused on what shoes do? Other than, like, protect arches and look super chic. When you were a baby, I just figured some part of you would always be a Rose, and you deserved to start life with your best foot forward? Then you grew, and we just kept getting you bigger pairs, and now they’re, like, your signature. I’ve got my hats and you’ve got your Vans!” Waiting for the light at the corner to switch, Len swings their joined hands back and forth. “How about running? I’m much better acquainted with running.”

“Nope.” Len’s denial pops with exaggerated flair. She sprints forward as soon as the sign says she can, scanning left and right, just like her parents have drilled into her, her snug grasp keeping Alexis close. “We already know how to do that.” She puts on a burst of speed, showing off.

“Very true,” Alexis agrees. The faster they race, the more their laughter stutters and bubbles. After a few blocks, they’re breathless in front of their brownstone, Alexis twisting hair that shares a shade with hers - and that the wind has driven just a smidge wild - into a loose interpretation of a braid. “But, um, sunshine? Won’t you need a skateboard?”

“Oh, I’ve got that covered,” Len promises. Without a care in the world, she skips up the steps.

Alexis has a horrible suspicion that whatever she’s feeling in this moment rivals David’s level of terror when she’d responded with an identical platitude to his hysterical, sat phone-delivered warning - liberally peppered with variants of _get your ass out of there, Alexis! I am not coming to claim your severed fucking head!_ \- of an imminent coup in Oman. 

“Hey, Len? Quick question.” Her heels clack resolutely against the concrete as she trails after her daughter. “Um, so. This awesome little adventure of ours? Are we rolling it out, like, this afternoon?” She executively decides that, if she’d emerged from a delightfully disastrous Middle Eastern upheaval in one piece, she can completely handle this. 

Right? She hopes? Jesus. 

\----

A lot can happen in three hours.

{Three hours ago, Lennox had appeared in the living room fully decked out, miraculously, for the excitement. Alexis, having quickly changed into leggings, a racerback tank, and an old hoodie of Ted’s before relocating to the couch to Google _foolproof methods guaranteed to save you from snapping your neck while skateboarding_ , had looked up from her laptop and only recognized, like, a quarter of her child’s ensemble.

“Sunshine? I’m loving the outfit and accessories for you but, um – ” she’d made every effort to swallow normally, fighting down an anxious gulp: her six-year-old could not have shoplifted this much merchandise, and her credit cards were in the freezer for the rest of the month, utterly out of reach “ – is all of this yours?” 

“Of course not, Mommy!” Len had giggled, bless her. “But it’s so nice! Elodie from school let me borrow some of her stuff. So I can try for real, like the pros! I can only keep everything for the weekend, though. Ready?” 

“Yep, uh huh, totally.” Alexis had nodded absently as they’d left the house, busy testing that every patch of Velcro and every clip would do its job and ensure that her baby stayed intact.} 

Now? Now, Alexis taps at David’s contact pic - shielding himself from the camera like the flash could literally burn, his Bride-To-Be tiara staging its own little escape attempt - and waits for him to accept her FaceTime invite.

“Can I call you - ? Why am I only seeing sky right now? Is there something up there? Did Ted name a star for you? Hello?” 

Pulling her knees up onto her bench lifts her phone and brings her upper half into view. “Better?”

“Good God, Alexis! Were you mugged?” David’s concern manifests rather forcefully and in an extremely high octave. She startles, scrunching away from the noise and blocking her ear with an arm. The closest arm, sure, but definitely the wrong choice.

“Ouch, fuck!” she hisses, cradling her ice-chilled {also bandage-wrapped and currently about five times its regular size} wrist. Silver lining? She can finally feel her pulse! Except, it’s kind of, like, not where it should be, and it seems really angry and basically shocks her whenever she moves. She must not be exactly at her quietest, either, because Ted glances over, every feature of his face asking if she’s okay. She smiles, shoos him back to steadying their daughter on that murderous contraption. “Hey, David? I, um, kind of broke myself?”

“Mhmmm, yes. I did notice that. Sort of difficult to miss the striking resemblance between you and Anna Paquin after her car crash in that movie you always lose your shit over? Where she’s Mother Goose? And how exactly have we achieved this ultimate form of flattery and maimed ourselves so spectacularly this fine spring evening?”

“Okay, first of all? Shut up, David. _Fly Away Home_ is fantastic and you totally got misty when Len held you hostage and finally forced you to watch over Chrismukkah. Don’t bother denying. Lying is beneath us now. Also?” She fluffs her hair, bracing herself to recount her harrowing ordeal. “Len’s got a shiny new itch to be a tinier, much more adorable Tony Hawk? Because of the Vans.” She growls the brand at him; he peers down apologetically – he’s probably wearing the traitors as they speak – and scoots himself slightly farther back. “She assigned me the role of guru, and I said: What the hell? It’ll be like surfing. But on solid ground.”

“I don’t think –” David grimaces at her misguided logic, nods in understanding. “That hasn’t ended well for you?”

Alexis treats him to a slow, shaky pan of her battered physique in case he requires assistance to arrive at the correct answer. “Clearly not, David,” she huffs. 

“Yes, well. To render the sting of your obviously declining athletic aptitude less sharp, I’ve just shipped you the largest, most expensive bottle of peach schnapps that a five-minute search can yield.” She flips him off. “I also took the liberty of having ‘Get Well Soon’ engraved on an ice bucket, to both commemorate the occasion and be available in the event of future mishaps. Whether these will relate to beverages or body parts of course remains to be seen.” 

“So much love!” Sarcasm edges her cheer, but her grin is genuine; she boops his nose through the screen. 

Then: “Mommy, I can almost land an ollie!” Len announces proudly, clambering up to sit next to Alexis as Ted mouths _She can stay upright_. “Are you alive? That was so much blood! And, see? I told you I memorized Daddy’s numb – Oh! Hi, Uncle David! Did Mommy tell you she taught me to skateboard?” 

David snorts in a ridiculously impolite manner, choking down the rest of his chuckle. “You could say that. The marvelous Ms. Mullens she most definitely is not, however. Oooh, have we added to our wardrobe without consultation?” 

Alexis listens to Lennox and David chat while Ted examines her mangled wrist. “Um, babe? Are you sure this – ” he’s pushing gently on various spots “- is the safest bet? Like, knowing something’s broken when I pass out in the park?”

“I’m not just going out on a limb, Lex. I have had practice.” Ted laughs, pressing his lips softly to hers, trading an unnerving touch for one flooded with comfort and calm; okay, yes, he might be, like, an expert at taking care of everything he encounters. 

“No. No.” David’s insistent scold cuts into their impromptu make-out sesh far sooner than she appreciates. “None of that, please. Your child is present and that fact alone should deter you. Because I am well-acquainted with your habits, however, I must also submit this for your consideration - my sister has wreaked enough havoc upon herself in a single afternoon to, quite possibly, last a lifetime. Do we really want to put her further at risk, given some of the fun in which you’ve engaged in the past?” 

“Like at Coney Island?” Len guesses guilelessly.


End file.
